Yesterday, Shane Victorino went 4-for-5, 4 RBIs, 5 Runs scored and his 6th homer. For anyone who read the roundups last year, you’re probably wondering where my Victorino love went. Last year, Victorino was my ’09 Mark Reynolds. I saw good value in Victorino last year and pushed him on everyone. Unfortunately, he met expectations, performed well, his value skyrocketed and I don’t have him on any team this year. This will be the story next year when I rarely mention Reynolds. I won’t own him because he’ll be drafted too high in 2010. Alas, the story of the fantasy baseball ‘pert. Your loves are forever changing. One year Jeremy Guthrie, the next year Wandy Rodriguez. Behind the ‘stache lies a fickle man! But I still gots love for Victorino. My only concern is how low his steals are this year. Sitting — literally — on 13 steals. So run. You’re The Flying Hawaiian for a reason, not The Taro Masher, poi! Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Jayson Werth – Hit his 17th homer yesterday and drove in his 46, 47, 48, 49 and 50th RBIs. Have I mentioned the Phils scored a lot of runs yesterday?

Cole Hamels – 7 IP, 1 ER, only 2 Ks. A start against a team that isn’t scoring many runs and is down ten runs after the first inning is a nice place to be pitching from. This could be the confidence boost Hamels needs moving forward.

Johnny Cueto – 2/3 IP, 9 ER. The pimple-faced teenager tried to warn you. I’m thinking it might be hard to Sell him now. I wouldn’t panic and drop him out of spite. He won’t be this bad the rest of the year. In fact, he gets the Mets in Metco next.

Paul Janish – In relief he went, one inning and gave up 6 runs. He still pitched better than Cueto.

Kevin Slowey – He has a strained wrist. This was the best case scenario. No, that’s not right. Best case scenario would be he’s healthy… Actually, best case scenario is he was healthy and pitching well. So the good news is Slowey received the 3rd best best case scenario.

Rick Porcello – Now his spot in the rotation is getting skipped. Next thing, he’ll be pitching out of the bullpen in August. Then shutdown in September. Finally, buying Leyland Camels in March. It’s the circle of life.

Randy Wells – 6 IP, 2 ER, 4 Ks, no BBs. Has a 2.48 ERA on the year. I was worried after his start vs. the Twins when he went 3 2/3 IP and gave 4 runs. I’m still hestitant about a young pitcher in Wrigley, but he’s done little to not trust him. Fall backwards into his arms. He’ll catch you. At least for another start or two, then we’ll have to reevualate.

Aramis Ramirez – Returned and went 0-for-4. This is unconfirmed, but Cubs fans are saying he would’ve had four hits, but Bradley forgot to run in front of him.

Jair Jurrjens – 6 IP, 4 ER, one K. Meesa tinks Jar-Jar’s got a few more of these yawnstipating starts in him.

John Smoltz – 6 IP, 5 ER. I don’t own Smoltz anywhere, because, well, there’s NL fish in the sea, but if I did own him, I’d be concerned. These weren’t exactly the Gene Tenace A’s he was facing. He gets the Willie BloomquistRoyals next time out, if that goes poorly, might be time to pull the ripcord.

Orlando Cabrera – Now here’s an exciting name! He’s hit two homers in the last two games. Do with that info what you must, but if you ask me if you should pick him up, I’m going to say, “Bleh.”

Brett Anderson – 9 IP, 9 Ks as he two-hit the Sawx. I still wouldn’t pick him up, but you know what’s fun? The first three months of any relationship. Yes, but besides that, the way the A’s call up just about anyone. Anderson would be pitching in Double-A right now for just about any other organization. No expectations is just another word for nothing left to lose.

Mike Hampton – 7 IP, 1 ER. Took care of the Pirates yesterday, will get the Nats next time out. That’s a decent spot start, assuming he doesn’t end up on the DL by this weekend.

Kevin Millwood – 5 IP, 9 ER. Well, we both knew it was coming. As my Polish neighbor from my childhood would say, “What can do?”

Josh Hamilton – Returned and went 2-for-4. See, he does deserve to be in the All-Star Game!

Jarrod Washburn – Threw a one-hitter shutout yesterday vs. the Orioles. On the positives, showing great command with only 26 walks in 105 1/3 IP and a spacious park. On the flip side, not a lot of Ks and very little run support. Potatoes to chips, Washburn is worth a flier if your team is struggling on WHIP.

Franklin Gutierrez – The Big FraGu has been out of his mind lately batting nearly .500 over his last 7 games. After hitting .304 in June with 4 homers and 3 steals. Project that out over the entire season and you have numbers The Big FraGu won’t get. But Schlemiel! Schlimazel! He’s worth a pickup while he’s hot.

Justin Upton – 1-for-3, HR and steal yesterday. Was good to see him do something after going into yesterday’s game 0 for his last 18.

Everth Cabrera – 0-for-3 with two steals. To say he’s lighting the world on fire would be a lie, but SAGNOF!

Albert Pujols – Over at Rotoworld, they referred to Pujols as Prince Albert. (If you look up Prince Albert, it’s perhaps the only Wikipedia page not safe for work.) Guess when your last name is Pujols, you get used to harsh nicknames. With a two ball count, Prince Albert gets the head of the bat in the zone and pierces it up the middle.

Great article as always! Did I just spot a Love reference? And the greatest album ever?

“No expectations is just another word for nothing left to lose.” I thought this should be reserved for Casey “Bobby” McGehee.

Grey, since you saved the day by telling me to sit Cueto yesterday, I got more of the same for you: safe to go with Zim @ Colo? How about Baker vs the Yankees (at home though)? There’s no real innings limit in this league, and I’m almost last in ERA and WHIP.

Speaking of Aramis coming back, did anyone else feel watching the Cubs/Braves last night that the Cubs suddenly have the pieces in place? Aramis makes that lineup so much more scary for pitchers in the way it sets up.

What are thoughts on Milton? If he’s wedged in between Lee and Aramis he will be seeing some nice pitches. Bradley’s a FA in my league and I’m watching that situation pretty hard. I have a feeling the Cubs get hot in the 2nd half.

Dallas Braden on the bereavement list indefinitely. Drop him for Morrow?

@Frank Rizzo: I had the same thought and picked up Milton “It’s Just a Game” Bradley as a FA. I think that he is worth a flyer, at any rate.

@BSA: Both Millwood and Smoltz get one more shot. But I am grateful that I don’t own Cueto anywhere.

Rick Porcello (6/22)- “He may have a correction in July and August, then, because of his age, he’ll probably get shutdown towards the end of August. Or he’ll have starts skipped.” And that’s me quoting Grey! And better yet “You will always have May.”

Grey – Another boring ML question: Please place these guys in order: Ass Dribble, McGeehee, Scutaro, Andrus, Bonifacio, Stewart, Callaspo…or are they so close that you just pick up whoever is hot at the time.

@DrEasy: I think ‘your loves are forever changing” was an accidental Love reference by Grey. You’ll know for sure if he references the song “Maybe the People Would Be the Times or Between Clark and Hilldale” in his next post.

@ncdodgerdog: Ha…we said ‘not safe for work’. You’d think Wikipedia could block out the photo with a clickable image that says “NSFW Image – you sure you want to see this?” At least they removed the awful photo on this Wikipedia page:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_McGee

@Rudy Gamble: I have been offered Johan Santana, Cole Hamels, and Dan Uggla for my Mark Reynolds and Utley. I have Aramis coming back to plug in at third, and need starting pitching. Is this a good deal for me?

@Frank Rizzo: Because he proposed the trade to me. But i would actually rather give up Hernandez than Yo-Yo or Lester. He has shown to be a poor 2nd half guy the last couple years, plus he is an AL pitcher on a team with little run support.

@Paulie Allnuts: johan has shown some serious signs of vulnerability, hamels has been spotty at best, and uggla is mark reynolds, but with less speed and a lower avg. personally i’d stick with reynolds/utiley and try to either move reynolds for someone like gallardo or wainwright or hope that aramis has a hot few weeks and move him once he’s proven healthy, cause i don’t trust hamels to be of much help the rest of the way, and johan, while still very very good, isn’t all that different from the rest of the top 20ish SPs this year.

Good Morning, do you see slowey as a good buy-low for the second half….The recent tests on his wrists have been positive, etc

Slowey’s owner is looking for a closer…I have Lidge, Franklin, and Andrew Bailey (also have meyer but hes not interested)….would you trade one for him and in which order?

I just traded away Haren and got back bailey as a piece in the deal…also, wondering if you think i should find another starter to replace haren, like a slowey, or to keep a great whip/era guy like bailey to offset my haren loss

@Frank Rizzo: Valid points. But he wont take anyone other than F-Her or Gallardo. I’ve already tried shopping Carp around, no biters. And I am slightly higher on Gallardo than Felix. I don’t feel good about giving up my valued ace, but I am in desperate need for a power OF and I feel my staff is still solid without him. Am I really giving up way too much for Lee? I have all but clicked accept, thanks for the input

@ThePoonTycoon: All valid points – certainly some risks involved here. However, last year Santana’s first half numbers were about the same; then he was unconscious in the second half. I don’t lose that much power with Uggla compared with Utley, and Aramis hopefully will make up the difference in BA and equal Mini-Donkeys output. Hamels pitched well yesterday; all I can do is hope that he is back on track. But I have been winning the hitting Cats and losing pitching Cats most of the year, and this is without ARAM and Manny, both of whom are activated. The backend of my rotation has been poor all year. With Santana and Hamels added to the Freak and Beckett, all of a sudden I should have a terrific starting staff. We shall see.

With the Big Unit hitting the DL, I need to pick up another starter, and it’s slim pickens. 14 team league w/ k/9, and I’m looking at Happ, Pettitte, Blanton, Kawakami, Washburn, Penny, De La Rosa… ugh I want to throw up. Any suggestions going forward?

@GhostfacePrzybilla: I am stoked I traded Millwood three weeks ago expecting those numbers. Finally he lived up to expectations.

Albert Pujols has been called Prince Albert for quite sometime. I heard it on SportsCenter the other day and it didn’t catch me off guard at all. Rotoworld is not coming up with something new. Either way, the line made me laugh and vomit at the same time. Quite a nice run down today Grey!

@TheGreatVeto: As Grey stated, it’s fair, and it’s up to you. Depends a lot on your needs.

Lee traditionally has been very hot in the 2nd half but he’s getting older, and he’s been very average up until now. He actually is trailing names like Luke Scott and Juan Pierre in Yahoo right now. Meanwhile Felix is a top 10 pitcher in Yahoo right now, neck and neck with Gallardo. It would be tough for me to give up a top 10 SP for Lee, but it totally depends on your needs…..so please discount everything I just said. Awesome.

@Grey: Sorry, I am ‘PM’ challenged. Looked for a PM button–none. Did you mean just carry on the conversation there? That works fine for me. Was just trying to avoid clogging up the Razzball airwaves with non-bb talk. Agree, not your role to facilitate.

@I’m Keith Hernandez: You give Berkman and get Berkman? I’d want the Berkman side. (The one with Kemp.)

@Simply Fred: Find the person you want to PM (Personal Message) in the forums then next to where it says Profile, it says PM, click on that and you can email people through the forums. Let me know if that’s not clear. It’s fine if you want to take the comments off-topic though. Doesn’t bother me.

@Simply Fred: The first book obviously borrows a great deal from Tolkien. He later develops his own unique style. Later on, he falls in love with his work and doesn’t want to end it, but that’s about 7 books from now, and you have about 6000 pages of great stuff before you get to that. But I don’t want to clog up the board with fantasy stuff – it might be better to talk about this in the forum page that we were using.

@I’m Keith Hernandez: dude, you are trading away 2 injured OFs. sure they could both be back and have solid 2nd halves…or their injuries could linger and keep them from playing regularly or putting up the numbers they are capable of…in short: accept accept accept.

@ThePoonTycoon: He’s had 5 over the last 15 days, but I just looked closer and 3 of them were in one day, so I guess I should invoke the Dexter Fowler Clause and ignore those…another option is Nyjer Morgan on the waiver wire, 3 steals in 4 games with Washington

@Grey: Sounds good…would you start Correia or Gaudin @ Arizona this week? Both have had rough starts in the desert already this season, but Arizona hasn’t exactly been an offensive juggernaut in general

@Frank Rizzo: no im trying to package gregg and sandoval for victorino and a pitcher. i originally tried to get wainwright, and it was countered with victorino and blackburn. but my pitching staff is made up of blackburn clones, not lights out with little k’s.